News Updates

Arts & Culture Plan Approved

The Carlsbad City Council approved an Arts & Culture Master Plan Tuesday, the culmination of more than a year of community discussions about how to continue the growth of arts and culture in Carlsbad over the next 10 years.

At a Glance

For the past year, city staff has worked with the community to develop a plan for enhancing arts and culture in Carlsbad.

The plan envisions the city moving beyond providing arts and culture programs and events to becoming a leader and facilitator of promoting an increased presence and greater impact of arts and culture throughout the community.

The city will now move forward with a program to bring arts to new community locations through an arts vehicle and mobile stage and to study the feasibility of new arts venues.

In all, the Arts & Culture Master Plan has 49 action items to support enhanced arts and culture in Carlsbad. The “top 10” ideas include:

Research the feasibility of a new arts venue.

Deploy an “arts vehicle,” such as a van or bus, and mobile stage so arts experiences can be provided throughout Carlsbad.

Support more festivals and cultural events.

Launch a pilot program to improve the integration of art into “STEAM” programs at Carlsbad schools. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art and math.

Encourage new programs to help employees at Carlsbad businesses develop their creative sides, including a new “Business Park After Dark” program.

Increase the amount of money the city gives, through its community grants to support arts and culture.

Create a training program for board members of local arts organizations.

Create a program that provides art along city trails.

Create a guest artist residency program.

Create a plan to market Carlsbad as a destination for cultural tourism.

Next StepsOver the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, the city will focus on the first two ideas. A feasibility plan for possible new arts venues will be developed in conjunction with planning for a new city hall and civic center. And, a “mobile outreach strategy” will utilize a new arts vehicle and existing mobile stage to bring arts experiences to different parts of the community.

The fiscal year 2018-19 city budget includes $90,000 in funding to staff the mobile outreach strategy, with the goal of using funds from community support groups to purchase the arts vehicle. The $165,000 budget for creating the Arts & Culture plan included $35,000 for a venue feasibility study.

Each year, city staff will provide an update to the City Council and propose additional implementation steps and funding needed.

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